Hello lovelies! As many of you already know, I've been on a bit of a shopping hiatus for the past five months and I thought I'd jot down a few observations I've had since the beginning of the year.

1. I have a fairly well-functioning closet when it comes to work wear. I've been keeping a list of the "it would be nice if I had _______" and while I've added to it, the list has not grown as much as I thought it would grow at the beginning of the exercise.

2. Shopping (and buying) frequently kept me from enjoying the clothes I already own.

3. Shopping (and buying) frequently meant I added too much to one capsule and ignored others. I always felt like I needed to spend money on my work clothes and then felt guilty when I spent money on non-work clothes. I ended up with a closet full of fairly nice work clothes but a poor selection of casual wear that was not only limited in number but was also the cheapest I could find and I didn't really enjoy wearing any of it. Since I had already spent "too much" on work wear, I was loathe to spend more on casual wear. Which is a segue to...

4. My work wear does not need to consume my entire clothing budget. I need to mindfully add and replace as needed, but I don't spend my entire life at work. My lifestyle requires four distinct capsules with little overlap and I've not done a very good job of allocating my resources among those capsules in the past. In a new awareness of my clothing needs, I've prioritized these capsules by importance and the amount of time spent in each capsule:
1. Work wear
2. Lounge wear
3. Active wear (specifically, running gear)
4. Casual wear
I was quite stunned that casual wear would end up at the bottom of this list and I have drastically skimped on my lounge wear and active wear capsules. I leave the house at 6:30 in the morning and when I come home at 5:00 or 5:30 I change immediately into either gear or lounge wear. I'm not going to stay in my work wear (suits, silky tops or button downs, trousers that I can't wear without 3-inch heels) while making dinner. Lounge wear is a capsule in my life that deserves attention and care in selection.

5. My casual wear needs are small which means I can keep that capsule small. My new goal is to buy fewer but higher quality items that I feel fabulous and comfortable in.

6. I am a runner. I run 3-4 times per week and I run half-marathons. I need running gear. I'm past the point of being a "casual" runner and I need to invest in high-quality gear that is comfortable, flattering and technical. No more cheap, ill-fitting, "it will do" running gear for me.

I think that's it! Thank you for putting up with me if you've read this far! These ideas have been running around in my head for the last month or so and it's so helpful to put them down in writing! We are still another 6-7 months out from our house being built (saving for the house is the reason for the shopping hiatus) so we are still in super serious savings mode with little left over for clothes beyond the necessities. The thing that's amazing is that I just spent a fair amount of money on "real" running gear and I feel GREAT about it, because
1. I know it's a need, not a want; and
2. because I haven't "wasted" money on other things I don't need

As a side note, I know I've been fairly scarce around here lately, but life sometimes gets in the way. I do try to read Angie's blog posts each day and I pop in on the forum from time to time. Hoping things will ease up a bit so I can spend some more time online. Cheers ladies and thanks for putting up with my ramblings!